Suchergebnisse

Purpose
This study aims to analyze the impact of political connection on the firm's financial performance in presence of corporate governance.

Design/methodology/approach
The study utilizes panel regression analyses (OLS) and margin and contrast analysis techniques on a data set of Pakistan's listed companies ranging from 2012 to 2021. For political connection, an aggregate score was calculated from political ties at the central, provincial and local level. Corporate governance was measured through an index using principal component analysis technique capturing its attributes comprised of board size, board tenure, board independence, board gender diversity, CEO duality, audit committee tenure and audit quality.

Findings
The study finds that politically affiliated individuals can exploit the wealth of firms. It also supports the positive role of corporate governance in augmenting the firm financial performance and further confirms that the presence of robust corporate governance practices can help mitigate the risk posed by the political connection.

Practical implications
The study provides valuable information to investors and offer insights into the investment opportunities available in nonfinancial sectors and identifies areas where investments may not yield favorable results. It provides solutions to the companies to effectively compose their boards and offset the adverse effect of political connection and capitalize on its potential benefits. Investors can draw upon these insights to inform and facilitate their investment decision-making processes. By gaining a better comprehension of the impact of political associations on corporate governance and performance, regulators and policymakers can better design policies that strike a balance between preventing abuses while still allowing firms to reap the benefits of political connections.

Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that delves into an analysis to mitigate viz-a-viz offset the adverse effect of political affiliations by implementing robust practices of corporate governance. Further, in lieu of a binary indicator variable of political connection, this study applies a different approach to quantify the varying intensities of the political connections, which is a nascent method. It further undertakes margin & contrast analysis and also analyzes effect of different levels of political connections as well as the role of various attributes of corporate governance, which offer a novel contribution.

Purpose
This study aims to investigate the effect of political turmoil on the firm financial performance, particularly in presence of politically affiliated board of directors.


Design/methodology/approach
The study applied panel regression analyses on a data set of Pakistan's listed companies ranged over 14 years, spanning from 2007 to 2021. Political turmoil was first gauged through three determinants, i.e. political protest, government election and constitutional reform, and thereafter, economic uncertainty index was used as a proxy for political turmoil. For the purpose of political connection, the study used political affiliation of the board of directors.


Findings
The study finds that political turmoil has deleterious effect on the return on assets and Tobin's Q. The study further unveils that politically affiliated firms are relatively insulated from the volatility posed by the political uncertainty and exhibit significantly better financial outcomes.


Practical implications
Findings of the study suggest that appropriate composition of the board is imperative in offsetting the risk posed by the political turmoil. Hence, the results are useful for investors, policymakers and regulators to ensure financial soundness of firms in the wake of political turmoil.


Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the moderating impact of political connection on the performance of companies in presence of political turmoil.

AbstractThe historical, political, socio‐cultural and institutional context in the public service of Pakistan is not auspicious for the delivery of social services such as education. The then military regime introduced radical devolution reforms in 2001 that promised improvements in service delivery by enhancing accountabilities and capacities for change in local government. However the political economy of this top‐down devolution has proved contentious. It established new power structures and authorities over resources at local levels but without concurrent efforts to enhance service delivery capacities. This article examines capacity issues in two cases of capacity development in education service delivery in Pakistan's largest province. The Punjab Education Sector Reform Programme (PESRP) was managed by a provincial‐level implementation unit; the Strategic Policy Unit (SPU) of City District Government Faisalabad was a local government project supported by technical co‐operation. Both delivered major improvements in education delivery capacity in just 4 years, after decades of delivery stagnation and worsening education indicators. The sustainability of these initiatives is in doubt, as political economy factors remain a major impediment to devolved service delivery in Pakistan. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Muslims feminists contend that they possess the intellectual capacity to challenge conservative juristic notions and patriarchal narratives regarding their roles and talents. They believe that gender-biased negative stereotypes have gone unquestioned owing to the dominance of male scholars in the hermeneutical domain. Scholars like Hibba Raouf, Amina Wadud and Farhat Hashmi confidently argue that the interpreter of the text, not the text itself, is to blame for androcentric bias towards women. Furthermore, they claim that conservative Ulama (intellectuals) misuse their position of authority and strive to preserve their dominance. Conservative scholars maintain that Islam prioritizes a woman's seclusion to the extent that she is not permitted to publicly preach the message of Islam. Disagreeing with their conservative critics, these female scholars argue that Islam does not impose such restrictions on women and they are free to pick the type of career and discipline which they think is compatible with their nature and disposition.This article analyses the perspectives of Hibba Rouf, Anima Wadud, and Farhat Hashmi on crucial topics including polygamy, female education, career choices, and political engagement.

The main objective of this study was to investigate not only the relationship between Psychological Capital and Work Engagement but also to test the mediating role of Organizational Commitment. A cross-sectional design was used. Data was collected from 226 nurses of the threelarge hospitals of Peshawar, Pakistan. The PCQ, UWES-9 and Meyer and Allen (1991) scales were used as measuring instruments. The results of the study reveal a significant relationship between 1) Psychological Capital and Work Engagement, 2) Psychological Capital and Organizational Commitment, 3) Organizational Commitment and Work Engagement. It was also found that Organizational Commitment partially mediated the relationship between Psychological Capital and Work Engagement. The study will further contribute to the existing literature on positive organizational behavior.

Social intelligence has increasingly caught the attention of researchers and scholars in the present times. This research aims at exploring difference in social intelligence mean of male and female university students. Secondly, it explores the effect of age and locality on social intelligence through cross-sectional research design. Data were collected from all (150) students enrolled in semester 8 and 4 BS education course in four public sector universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). 71 were female whereas 79 were male in the sample. Data were analysed based on ANOVA test and independent sample t-test through SPSS. The study found no significant difference on gender and locality. But there was a significant relationship related to age. The findings of this study demonstrated that social intelligence increases with age.

Movements in a stock market index may safely be considered one of the mostwatched out phenomena by investors in almost every economy. One method to forecast the index is to study all those external factors that directly affect it. Another way, however, is to base ones predictions on the past behavior of the variable of interest. This paper has employed the method described latter and has, therefore, made use of the ARIMA modeling. In this connection, the daily stock market index data of the Karachi Stock Exchange 100 index was taken for twenty years from 1997 to 2017 which translated into 4940 observations. The study revealed that the model was decently efficient in forecasting the KSE 100 Index, though only for the short-range. The upshot of this study may be utilized specifically by short term investors in deciding on when, and when not, to invest in the stock market.

The basic objective of this study is to examine the mediating role of OC between WO and TI among the teaching faculty of universities of KP, Pakistan. Data were collected via questionnaires from 207 teachers. SPSS and Amos were used to analyze the data. The results revealed a significant positive relationship between WO and turnover intention, while a significant negative relationship between WO and OC and between OC and TI was confirmed. The results also revealed a significant partial mediation of OC between WO and turnover intention.

The objective of this research was to investigate not only the relationship among workplace Ostracism (WPO), psychological capital (PC), and job performance (JP) but also to test the mediating role of PC between WPO and JP. Data were gathered from 278 employees of public sector universities. Statistical Package for Social Sciences and Amos was used to test the relationship among all variables. Structure equation modeling was employed to test the developed model. The results showed that WPO had a significant negative relationship with PC and JP while a significant positive relationship between PC and JP was found. Furthermore, the results revealed that PC partially mediated the relationship between WPO and JP.

The stock market index can be forecasted in two ways --- either through taking those external factors that influence movements in the index or by basing ones predictions on the previous values of the index. The current study has used the method described later by employing the Box-Jenkins methodology --- a method famously used by most researchers while conducting ARIMA modeling--- by taking past figures of KSE 100 Index. Quarterly figures of the Index were, therefore, taken for 22 years from August 1995 to October 2017 that translated into 90 observations. Results revealed that the forecasting model used in the study did well in anticipating returns in the shortrun. The findings of the study can be consumed by investors, particularly short-term, in deciding when, and when not, to risk their hard-earned funds at Pakistan Stock Exchange.

On débat depuis longtemps, en économique et en sociologie, de l'effet des réseaux sociaux sur l'emploi, mais établir des liens de causalité reste toutefois un défi. Dans cet article, grâce à des données portant sur un projet d'intervention auquel les participants ont été choisis au hasard, nous analysons l'impact, sur l'emploi, de variations dans diverses mesures de la taille et de la composition des réseaux sociaux, au niveau des individus et d'une communauté. Nos résultats indiquent que le fait d'avoir participé au projet accroît de beaucoup la taille des réseaux sociaux, en particulier en ce qui a trait aux liens faibles. Toutefois, ce changement ne se traduit pas par une meilleure situation de l'emploi 18 mois après la fin de l'étude. Nous n'observons aucune hétérogénéité dans l'effet de l'intervention sur les participants sur la base de la taille initiale du réseau social d'un individu ; ceux qui ont vu leurs liens forts augmenter à un taux plus élevé durant le projet étaient plutôt plus susceptibles de ne pas avoir d'emploi à la fin de l'intervention. En résumé, nos résultats suggèrent que, si certains programmes peuvent influencer avec succès la taille du réseau social des individus, ces changements ont un effet limité sur la situation de ces derniers sur le marché de l'emploi à long terme ; toutefois, quand on considère les individus qui ont un emploi, la composition du groupe, elle, subit un changement.